Unpacking heat: Mom's decision to turn in guns yields peace of mind
| Thursday, May 28 2009 04:35 PM
Last Updated Thursday, May 28 2009 04:35 PM
It was a hot Saturday morning in Los Angeles, the day before Mother's Day, and I was sweating as I drove my mother to her rendezvous. In my trunk were three guns and some ammo from my dad's closet. My dad was in failing health and my mother didn't want him to get any ideas about ending it all with a bullet. She had read in the newspaper about the Los Angeles Police Department's anonymous, no-questions-asked, gun buyback program that was to take place at a church near her home. As an incentive, the police were offering $100 Ralph's or VISA gift cards in exchange for each gun. She had made careful note of the date. She just needed me to drive her.
When we pulled into the line at the church parking lot, a police officer immediately asked us the whereabouts of our weapons. There were more cops lined up in the vicinity of the church than at a St. Patrick's Day parade: I guess if my mom had said "Right here," and drew on the officer, the department wanted to be prepared. The trunk turned out to be the right and proper place to stash them. (My thought process on the drive over, when I stopped myself from running a yellow light across from two LAPD cruisers: Wouldn't it be rotten luck if I got pulled over and busted for having guns in my trunk? I'm pretty sure I'd lose my CDCR job if I got caught with unlicensed firearms. Good thing I have my mother in the car, looking nothing like a lawbreaker.)
There were more cars in line than I had anticipated at the designated site in the San Fernando Valley. I guess I was picturing a few young gangbangers turning in their guns, but in reality, the predominant gender of those we lined up with was female. There were a few older fellows turning in hunting rifles, but mostly there were women. Women alone. Women with other women. Women with children. And when I really thought about it, it made perfect sense that women are the ones who want the guns out of their houses, and who could really use the grocery money. Women are often the ones paying the price of the random use of those weapons, the ones left, after the death or imprisonment of their men, to raise and feed the children. Of course they would be the ones to be lured by the buyback program.
A policeman asked us if we preferred a Ralph's or VISA gift card. He warned that we might not get paid for each weapon we relinquished, as there was a limit to the supply of gift cards. "I just want to get rid of these guns," my mom answered. "I don't care what I get." Which turned out to be a fortunate attitude, because the next officer who approached the car told us that the gift cards had not actually arrived yet from the mayor's office, and would we mind waiting a few minutes?
We explained that we really only wanted to turn in the guns, which we learned one can do at any police station anytime. Judging by the number of cars getting out of line by way of a torturous backing-up-and-turning-around-process, however, most people had not come just to get rid of a dangerous weapon. They wanted the card, or there was no deal. I wondered if the police would wait up the block and pull over each car that was now traveling away loaded with contraband, but in the spirit of the day, no roadblocks appeared.
We remained in the car while a team of officers removed the guns and bullets from my trunk, and my mother's wish for a gun-free household was fulfilled. The guns' triggers were secured with zip ties, and all was catalogued. An officer was certain that the gift cards were moments away if we wanted to wait, but we could not. He promised to save us a gift card if we returned later in the day. Alas, when we actually did go back after lunch, he had forgotten.
Figures released the next day confirmed that a total of 1,300 gift cards had been given away, in exchange for about 1,700 firearms that were turned over at 19 locations around Los Angeles: the buyback had been more successful than the planners had anticipated. Apparently, around 400 guns besides ours were turned in for no compensation. But many others unfortunately went back home with their owners.
The 1,700 weapons collected that Saturday were scheduled to be destroyed by the LAPD, keeping them off the mean streets. I realize they represent only a token amount of the supply of firearms on any given day in Los Angeles. But I applaud the melting down of guns, especially handguns, whose only purpose is to kill. If even one person is alive today because a gun was turned in for a Ralph's card, L.A.'s buyback program is worth the trouble and expense. I know my mother is resting easier in a gun-free home.
